OakNorth has announced that its pre-tax profits increased by 23 per cent to £187 million in 2023, up from £152.3 million in 2022.

In its latest financial results, the neobank said it provided over £1.7 billion of gross new lending facilities in 2023.

Around $200 million of this went to businesses in the US where OakNorth began lending during the second part of the year.

The company said it has applied for a US representative office and is actively exploring M&A opportunities in the region.

Rishi Khosla, chief executive and co-founder of OakNorth, said that over the year the bank has continued to develop its credit approach and expanded its support for SMEs.

“Despite numerous ongoing economic challenges, this has been another strong year for OakNorth, showing consistent profitability and high growth,” he added. “In the year ahead, we’ll maintain our firm commitment to supporting ambitious scaling businesses, whose contribution to growth is more important than ever in the current macroeconomic climate.”

At the beginning of the year, OakNorth announced that Lord Adair Turner had joined the bank as chairman.

The bank’s previous chairman, Cyrus Ardalan, stepped down at the end of 2023 after eight years in the role.

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